SARAS Mela Offers National Platform For Rural Women: Governor
Governor S. Abdul Nazeer said the SARAS Aajeevika Mela would help rural women build sustainable businesses, achieve financial independence and access wider markets.
Governor Justice S Abdul Nazeer has said the SARAS Aajeevika Mela, now on here, would help rural women transform their skills into sustainable businesses, achieve financial independence and contribute to the country's economic growth.
Addressing the inaugural event, he said Andhra Pradesh was proud to host the first edition held outside the Delhi National Capital Region.
President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the mela, organised jointly by the Union rural development ministry and the state government under the Lakhpati Didi initiative. Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, K Rammohan Naidu and Pemmasani Chandrasekhar, and state ministers Kondapalli Srinivas and Vangalapudi Anitha attended the event.
The governor said the mela's significance was enhanced by its coincidence with the Dasara Sarannavarathri celebrations at Indrakeeladri and the second edition of Vijayawada Utsav.
He described self-help groups (SHGs) as powerful instruments of social change and economic transformation, helping rural women become entrepreneurs through collective action, access to credit, skill development and market linkages.
The mela features 630 stalls and around 1,500 SHG women participants representing states and UTs. Handlooms, handicrafts, natural food products, live food courts, farmer producer organisation stalls, cluster-level federation stalls and SARAS Shakti Collection products are among the attractions.
With an expected footfall of upto one lakh visitors daily, the event offers women opportunities to reach customers, explore new markets and expand their businesses.
Nazeer stressed that empowerment must extend beyond livelihood generation to building profitable and sustainable women-led enterprises. Access to finance, modern technology, digital platforms, branding, packaging, quality certification and reliable market linkages was essential for growth.
The governor said the mela would showcase AP’s rural women entrepreneurs and SHG networks nationally. Its success should be measured by business opportunities, market connections and the sustainable livelihoods created, rather than visitor numbers alone.
